Thursday, December 30, 2010

Mummenschanz at NYU's Skirball Center

By West Village Bill

On Sunday, I'm taking my sweetie, Tony P., and my friend Jen and her kids, Abbe and Zane, to see Mummenschanz at New York University's Skirball Center. Tony saw Mummenschanz live when he was a kid, and I remember being entranced by the mime troupe's performance on The Muppet Show back in America's bicentennial year. Mummenschanz is appearing at the Skirball Center through Jan. 8.

Two of the three founders are still performing in the group and are its artistic directors; the third one passed away in 1992. I was excited to see that the other two performers (they all showed their faces at the curtain call) aren't exactly spring chickens either. The show was a great deal of fun. A few of the sketches ended without much of a payoff, but most of them were delightful.